The Jedi and the Soldier
by Kath Rivers
Summary: Benjemin is a jedi in the Old Republic when the Force calls him to the world of Kaon. A bloody battle has recently taken place rendering Republic soldier, Kyrie, injured and alone. The two meet up and face the horrors of Kaon and must discover how to stop the plague from getting offplanet.
1. Chapter 1

Benjemin and Kyrie

Benjemin surveyed the battlefield sensing for life. With all of the death occurring so recently it was difficult to sense anything. The Force was disturbed; he kept at it anyway. It wasn't his mission to be on Kaon. He'd been in the system on his _B-7 Sloop _having just finished up as a fly through escort. He should have been heading back to the Jedi Temple on Tython. But, he wasn't. The Force nudged him down to the surface. His Order could spare him some time.

Based on the wreckage and dead, it had been recent. There was no one stirring around him. Ben assumed the clean-up crews had already been through. They would have picked up anything living and any salvageable wreckage. There was no reason for him to be here. He'd seen enough battlefields, healed enough of the wounded. It was always gruesome. Ben had just turned to head back to his ship when he felt an even stronger tug through the Force. What was normally a soft whisper gracing along his skin was suddenly a roar in his ear. He turned sharply to the left. That was where he was being called.

He tried opening himself up to the force, to let it flow through him, sense the subtleties that existed. Finally he felt what was compelling him. A life bumped into his presence. It was faint and fading, but still there. He quickly turned, letting the Force guide his direction. Finally he found what he was looking for, the reason he was drawn to Kaon.

A large droid was mangled beyond repair. Several dead republic soldiers still littered the ground. But, beneath the mangled droid he saw a republic soldier still breathing. He was wounded and unconscious. Ben wouldn't be able to tell the extent of the injuries until he was able to get him out from under the droid. Calling on the Force he lifted the wrecked machine free, revealing the soldier.

The republic soldier was actually a woman. There was a black markings along her arm and dents in the armor covering her abdomen. More scarring in the armor on her right leg. He guessed she'd been shot in the arm and leg before going down and the droid, once destroyed, had fallen on top of her. He quickly checked her over. She didn't appear to have lost a lot of blood, the blaster wounds cauterizing as they hit. He worked over her abdomen. The plate was probably suppressing her breathing and looked to have broken a few ribs. He felt along her neck and head. Neck and skull intact. Spine at normal angle. Ben decided it would be safe enough to move her.

Benjemin lifted the soldier, pulling her against the black flight suit he wore. He wouldn't be able to take her in the _Sloop, _having been designed to only carry one with not even the room for an astromech droid. He hated to carry her far with her injuries but there was a stand of trees where he'd left his ship that would have to do as protection for now.

When he made it to his destination he laid the woman on the ground a few yards from the ship. The sunlight glinted through the trees. It was high noon now and thankfully warm. Though he knew it would get cool in the evening. The ship was equipped with a thermal blanket, medical kit, rations, and little else. He unzipped the top of his flight suit and pulled off his undershirt and folded it beneath her head. It would be the best comfort he could afford her for now. He pulled a syringe of painkillers from the kit and shot it into her uninjured arm to get her started.

Ben wanted to look after the blaster wounds but knew they could wait next to the suppressing plate over her midsection. He carefully wedged his fingers around it and pried it up. The woman gasped and groaned in her sleep as she was freed from it. He felt along her ribs. She had at least three broken but he'd need to get her to a medical center to know for sure. He then moved on to her blaster wounds. Her arm had only been grazed but her leg had been hit dead on with a high caliber shot. This must've been what brought her down. He patched them, but she'd need a few days in a kolto tank for those ribs.

When Ben was finished setting out the supplies he sat and meditated, concentrating the Force on her healing. He wrapped the Force around them, keeping one corner of his mind open to danger that could be lurking.

The sun was low in the sky when he opened his eyes again. He had been so deep into his meditation and healing he was confused at first where he was. It was like waking up, but instead of being refreshed, he was exhausted. Healing through the Force was something he'd excelled at and trained in the Jedi Temple. But, it was still exhausting.

He stood and stretched. "Hello." Ben jumped slightly at the sound. The woman was awake. She was propped up on her good arm looking at him through vivid green eyes. Before he'd been focused on her wounds. Ben hadn't taken the time to really look at her. She had light blond hair but a dark complexion. She was also watching him warily.

"You're awake, good. How're you feeling?" Ben asked.

"Better than when I was under the droid, thank you. Jedi, I presume?" she asked, taking in his lightsaber. Then continued to look him over, taking in the rest of him. "Or, pilot maybe?" she asked, noting the suit.

"Little bit of whatever's needed really," he said flashing her a smile. "Like rescuer." He noted the smile she tried to hide. Ben shivered slightly. The air had cooled and he was still shirtless. He retrieved the thermal blanket for the woman. She offered him back his shirt but he shook his head. "You can keep it as a pillow." He zipped up his suit without it. "And since I'm offering my clothing I could at least give my name. Ben Rivers," he said sitting down next to her.

She laughed but cut it off with a gasp and put a hand over her ribs. "Hey, take it easy. You've got a few broken ribs there. I've done what I can for now but you could use a kolto tank."

"Thank you, Ben. For finding me. I didn't have the strength to yell loud enough or make enough noise when the evac team passed through. I guess I exhausted myself finally and passed out. I'm Sergeant Kyrie West."

"Well Sergeant, you must be starving by now. I have, let's see, rations, rations, and oh look, rations. What'll it be, my lady?"

"Oh, I think I'll have to go with rations, that seems like the best choice," she said with a smile.

Ben pulled the cap off some water and handed it to her with the food. He had to catch himself from being quite so playful with her. He wanted to make her smile, and he needed to be careful of that.

She took the food and water. "And, just Kyrie will do."

"Of course, Ms. West, as you wish," it was out of his mouth before he'd even had a chance to think. He wasn't usually so susceptible to pretty ladies even ones in distress.

She just shook her head. "So, what is a jedi doing all the way out here? Have you called a transport yet?"

"As for the transport, no. The communications grid is still down. I tried using my ship to relay an outgoing message but it seems the Imperials are actually blocking the whole grid still. And, for what I'm doing out here, I happened to be flying an escort mission and was on my way home when I felt I needed to stop. The Force led me to you."

"I see." She was quiet a few moments. Finally, "What about your ship?"

"It is unfortunately only a class _B-7 Sloop._ I haven't the room for us both unless you plan to ride in my lap for a few hours. When you are well enough I'll go for help, or whenever the comms grid is released. For now, I won't leave you. The wildlife on Kaon can be... entertaining."

Kyrie passed a hand over her eyes. "So, I was briefed." She sighed and Ben knelt by her side.

"Rest now, I'll keep watch." She nodded her assent and curled up in the thermal blanket.


	2. Chapter 2

Kyrie watched the Jedi as he rested with his back against a tree, legs stretched out. He was alert but she sensed a tiredness about him. The cool wind barely tousled his short blond hair. His grey eyes were closed and his head back, but she knew he was taking everything in. She buried her face into his shirt and fell asleep.

Kyrie awoke suddenly and looked around her. It was still dark out, and the sky was not even close to it's pre-dawn light; she could have been asleep only a few hours. "Ben?" she asked softly to the dark. She heard a snap-hiss and suddenly the glowing blue beam of a lightsaber blazed to life.

"I'm here," he said. "But, there's something out there." Kyrie pulled her blaster pistol close and straightened to a sitting position. Ben stood at the ready, the blue glow of his saber casting a hazy glow on him. He held his weapon back, taking even breaths. She turned and saw the glowing eyes. "Ben!" but he'd already seen it. He flicked his left hand and the creature was thrown farther back from their camp. Suddenly one dropped from the trees above them. It pulled back it's teeth, ready to lunge at her, she put two bolts into head before it could leap.

A third animal came from their left flank. Kyrie assumed they were the large native cats, maybe two meters tall at the shoulders with 6 centimeter claws, sharp teeth, and tusks on the side. Their fur was black with even darker stripes throughout. Tark Cats, she remembered from her briefing. They hunted in packs of three to five. Being both a pack animal and a feline had made them interesting to zoologists. But, facing them now, she wasn't concerned about their value towards the advancements in understanding wildlife throughout the galaxy.

Ben turned and thrust his lightsaber into the neck of the beast rearing up to him. He hadn't noticed the one he'd pushed earlier coming up behind him, though. Kyrie fired off two shots. One glanced the animal's shoulder but not before it raked it's claws across Ben's right upper arm. She was finally able to get a shot into it's head as it landed. It fell at their feet, dead. "Are there more of them?" Kyrie asked.

Ben shook his head. "I don't feel any more out there." He sighed, and glanced down at the rent fabric on his arm. He pulled his arm out of the sleeve and put a patch on it. "You should get back to sleep," he said not looking at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. He seemed preoccupied.

He turned to her as he pulled his arm back into the sleeve. "What was your mission here, Sergeant? They haven't dropped the communications block still, and the Empire and Republic are moving their troops. This wasn't just a battle, was it?"

Kyrie wasn't sure what he was asking. "We were told the Empire had found a valuable ore on Kaon and intended to seize control of the planet to take it. Republic troops were sent in to safeguard the planet. Why?"

"Did you actually fight any Imperial Soldiers?"

Kyrie thought about it for a moment. "Actually, no. I guess we didn't. We fought their battledroids. That was good enough for me. I lost friends in that fight. What're you saying, Ben?" She pushed herself to her feet testing if her leg could hold her weight yet.

"The communications are being blocked by a _Republic _code. And, then there's this." He pointed down to the creatures they had killed, holding his lightsaber over it so she could finally get a good look at them with the blue glow. She was repulsed. They weren't cats at all, but something much more... human. "What is it?" She whispered.

"Rakghoul."

Kyrie gasped and pushed farther back into the tree she was supporting herself on. "I thought they were only on Taris." She didn't know much about Rakghouls, never even seen one, until now. They'd all heard the stories though, how one could be transformed from merely a scratch. She looked at his arm, the fabric clearly torn, blood showing. "Oh, Ben..."

He looked away. "Kyrie, you need to leave. Take my ship and get out of here, please."

"And, what about you? I'm not just going to leave you here."

Ben passed a hand over his face. "I need to find out what's going on here. I'm going to head into town tomorrow, get some new clothes and provisions. I need to discover why the Republic is blocking communications to this world, why they are potentially staging a battle. What're they trying to hide?"

Kyrie nodded and held out her hand. "Give me another pain killer and two hours sleep, then I'm taking watch, Jedi. You look beat. Stop Force healing me or whatever you're doing." He gave a sheepish look and she knew she'd guessed right. He handed over the meds. She fell asleep watching him brood.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben awoke to bright morning sunlight. The night had ended uneventfully and Kyrie had been allotted another three hours of sleep and gave him four. She was demonstrating her walking for him when he awoke. Ben was thrilled to see how quickly she was recovering. If they needed to run a long distance she'd have trouble but could at least walk now. Her ribs still needed a good bit of mending, but he knew that would take time. Even his own bones could take him a week to fully heal in a deep meditative trance.

Kyrie caught him checking his arm again. She put a hand over his. "It'll be okay." They packed what little provisions he had and checked his portable holomap. "Thankfully we aren't far from town. Should take us maybe an hour or two of walking."

Ben and Kyrie were lucky enough to find a speeder vendor after only an hour, so Ben was able to rent a speeder to keep Kyrie from having to work too hard while she was still healing. He followed his holomap and located a shop not too far into the nearest town. He ordered some clothes for himself and Kyrie, then went into a blaster shop to replace the rifle she had requested and acquire a pair of pistols for himself and tucked his lightsaber into his boot. He'd gotten himself a pair of black boots, leggings, and jacket. Kyrie had a similar set in brown with a white jacket. He hoped they could simply pass for a couple of smugglers or travellers. He found them a hotel to stay in and they changed and cleaned up. The disguise would make them less conspicuous, though Kyrie had a hard time setting her armor aside but she understood the necessity for it. She tied her hair back into a ponytail and finished changing as he came back with extra rations and water.

The room was fairly small, holding only a table between two single beds, a refresher to one side and a window on the opposite wall. Kyrie stood with her arms wrapped around her looking out the window as he came in. Ben gave her a smile. "How're you feeling?"

"Better. It feels nice being clean again and clothed. Thanks for digging me out from under that droid."

"Anytime," he said handing her the rifle."

"Oh the X-12 Rangehunter. Thank you," she gave a huge smile as she held the weapon. He couldn't help but chuckle a little. She tucked the pistol she'd retained the whole time at her hip and cocked an eyebrow at him, appraising him up and down. "Smuggling suits you. Maybe you should shed the jedi look more often."

She expected him to laugh but instead he walked to her and looked her up and down. The intensity of his gaze made her fidget. He smiled and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear that'd come loose of her ponytail. "Then you should see it on you, dear Kyrie." He held his hand to her face a moment longer before turning away. _Get a grip on yourself._ She scolded inwardly. Was she really flirting with a Jedi? That would lead nowhere good.

Kyrie cleared her throat. "So, what's our next step."

"Reconnaissance. What can you tell me about Kaon? I'm not really familiar with it."

"It is a system made up of three planets, all neutrally aligned. They are led by a class of nobility and have had a fair amount of wealth due to such mineral rich planets. They do not have a large army but are protected by planet-wide security forces. Being so distant in the galaxy neither the Republic nor Empire made too many power grabs at it. However, recently it appeared the Empire was interested in taking over and the Republic offered their protection. A battle was fought and it appears both Empire and Republic have officially moved out."

Ben put a hand to his chin. "Except that we have a world where the communications are still blocked, a battle was potentially staged, and rakghouls have shown up."

"So, you don't think the Empire was here at all. Why would the Republic try to block a neutral world? Are they after the natural resources?" she asked.

"Why indeed? After what we saw, I don't think this has anything to do with the resources. Negotiations would serve them better when dealing with nobility. They tend to enjoy staying out of wars. The rakghoul plague should be only on Taris. The fact that it has shown up here leads me to believe this is the Republic's true concern. I've been to Taris. This is not a plague travelling to other worlds. And, the creatures we saw here were... different than what I saw before."

"Why don't we head to the spaceport?" Kyrie suggested. "The comm block suggests a quarantine. If they are still letting people leave it might tell us if we are off base."

"Good idea. Let's go." Ben pulled out his personal holomap again and drove the speeder to the Osara Spaceport. It was teeming with life, people and droids everywhere. The planet was made up of a mostly human population allowing them to blend in easily. But, as they started to walk through the wide corridors he noticed it was more congested than what was normal here. People seemed agitated. He approached a ticket counter.

"Excuse me. I'd like to purchase two tickets to Coruscant."

The elderly lady turned sky blue eyes to him. "Sorry, Sweetie. No one's leaving planet right now."

He put his arm around Kyrie's shoulders. "But my wife's mother has fallen ill. We need to get to Coruscant to look after her." Kyrie leaned into him, pretending to seek support. "Do you know how long it is going to be?"

She looked at them sympathetically. "The officials estimate 48 hours at least. I'm so sorry."

Ben bowed his head. "Thank you." He led Kyrie out of the spaceport with a hand on her back. They dropped the act once they reached the speeder. "Well that answers that at least."

"So, they are definitely quarantining Kaon. Maybe we should look into outgoing communication logs, see what was transmitting before they brought the grid down," Kyrie suggested.


	4. Chapter 4

After dropping off their weapons at the hotel, they headed to downtown Osara where they expected the communications hub would be located. There were several large government buildings huddled together. The day was surprisingly warm again as they headed towards the building. Busting the communications building would be tough, Kyrie knew. They would need identification to get into the building and as neither wanted to be recognized this would pose an issue. "I don't suppose you carry fake ID docs on you?" she asked.

"I do, actually. But, don't worry about our ID, I'll take care of it." The building housed all communications and traffic control for the city. There were several people waiting in line to pay tickets, those last minute-ers who didn't send payment in early. Government officials roamed about with aids at their side, chatting into comms and datapads. There was a harried atmosphere about.

They approached the guard at the entrance. "Business?" the man grunted.

Ben slipped into their last cover. "My wife needs to pay her traffic fine."

The man shook his head. "Don't see why they let women fly, terrible drivers all of 'em. ID's?"

Ben gave Kyrie a meaningful look. "The ticket is ridiculous anyway. I was clearly in that spacelane. That officer was blind!" she nearly shouted. As the other people in the building turned their attention to her, Ben subtly waved his hand. "You do not need to see our ID." The officer repeated the phrase and waved them through. Ben attempted to take her arm as she continued to act miffed with him. "I'm going to the 'fresher." She pushed him away.

Ben threw up his hands. "Women! I can't pay your fine without the paperwork, I need you over here, ugh." He headed towards the other side of the building getting a good look around. There was a turbolift to the upper levels on the left wall. That was where they'd need to get to. He spotted an aid nearby working at a terminal. He was so engrossed in what he was doing he didn't even notice Ben sliding his employee ID off the table.

Kyrie spotted him as she was walking out of the 'fresher and headed over. He swiped the ID and they took the lift. He tapped in the 6th floor, following the department guide. The turbolift opened to a long hallway of offices. Ben opened himself to the Force, letting it lead him where it would. He sensed at least twenty people in the offices around them. Kyrie was a strong presence at his back. He sensed her exhaustion and the pain she was still in. They would need to rest soon. He threw out his attention a little farther. In one of the offices near the end they could hear voices. He stopped to listen, tuning out all other noises.

"You can't keep the grid down any longer. I've got to bring it back up!"

"I told you before, Director, it's the Imperials, what do you want me to do?"

"Do I look like a fool to you? I know the difference in Imperial and Republic codes, even scrambled ones. Does this have to do with that crashed ship? Doctor Lorrik is not affiliated with us. If you want his work shut down you can go talk to him directly. He's always in that lab on Eastden."

"Look I have a meeting to get to. Give your people a forty-eight hour time table for communications and lockdown. It shouldn't matter after that anyway."

Ben was starting to get a headache all of the sudden. He'd heard enough for now, indicating down the hall, Kyrie nodded. As they got off the turbolift, he slipped the aid's ID back on the table. Ben rubbed his head, trying to ward away the headache. The air had cooled now but he was uncomfortably hot. "Let's get back to the hotel, you need to rest."

"Think you might as well; you are really pale. Are you feeling okay, Ben?" Kyrie asked.

"Headache. It's nothing." He drove them back to their hotel. Kyrie hadn't realized how tired she'd really become until she laid down in her bed. She was asleep in seconds.

Kyrie awoke several hours later. The light outside was dimming, already dusk. There were no lights on in the room, just the red orange-light flooding in through the window. Looking over, she spotted Ben sitting on his bed looking at his datapad, his back to her. She approached him and put a hand on his shoulder, he tensed at first then relaxed. She noticed he was shivering but the skin beneath her hand was warm. Kyrie pulled a blanket off her bed and wrapped it around his shoulders. He turned to her and Kyrie put a hand on his cheek. "Ben, you have a fever. Have you taken anything?"

"I took some earlier," he said quietly.

Kyrie got up and pulled the medical kit off the table. She pulled out three fever reducing pills and handed it to him with a bottle of water. He swallowed it down without comment. "I'm going to order us some food."

"I'm not hungry right now."

"When's the last time you ate?" she asked.

"We ate this morning," he reminded her.

"So, eight hours ago. Even Jedi need to eat." She ordered them some neruf soup and rolls. Ben wrinkled his nose when it came. She sighed, "At least have some bread." He took it and ate, but looked a little green. "What'd you find on your datapad?"

"I was researching the name the communications director mentioned. Dr. Lorrik. He is apparently a local scientist. Though, there have been disturbing reports lately."

"Ben, are you in the local security force's records?"

"What better place to get the information about a local?" he said, unabashed.

Kyrie shook her head. "So, what sort of trouble are we looking at?"

"It seems to have come to light that he was doing some... disturbing experiments. Gene-splicing. Twisting things to the point of being unrecognizable. It seems right now the government is trying to decide what to do about him. He is currently under house arrest, but as his home is connected with the lab, this solves little. But, that's not the most interesting piece of information I came across," Ben continued. "The director mentioned a crashed ship, so I looked up those logs from the terminal we spliced. It seems a ship crashed forty-eight hours ago to the planet surface. From Taris."

"Taris..." Kyrie repeated.

Ben nodded. "He also mentioned that this ship was the new interest of our dear mad doctor.

"You think he's doing experiments on the rakghouls?"

"I'm afraid it's a possibility. We need to see what's going on at the very least." Ben rubbed his forehead and pulled the blanket more tightly around himself. Finally, he sighed. "And, I need to see if there's any way to stop this." He pulled the blanket from his left arm to show her. The scratch was swollen, infected. "I'm turning into one of them, Kyrie. I don't have long. I'm trying to slow the process. But, I need to find a cure, maybe this doctor has one. And, if not.. well, I at least intend to stop this plague from overtaking Kaon if I can."

Kyrie's breath hitched; Ben had covered the arm again. She couldn't help feel responsible for what was happening to him. If he hadn't needed to protect her he wouldn't have even been in the middle of nowhere. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and held him gently for a moment and then pulled back. "Let's go find that cure."


	5. Chapter 5

They parked the speeder a few blocks down from Lorrik's lab. It was fully dark now as they headed down the street. It was an industrial part of town and with the workday ended they didn't run into anyone. Still they kept to the shadows.

Kyrie had slipped back into her red trimmed, white plastoid armor. Ben had changed into a Jedi's armor now, silver-white plastoid plated armor with a brown cloak thrown over top. Between his armor and natural tall stature and large frame he presented a formidable opponent. And, she couldn't help but reflect on yesterday when she'd awoken to him shirtless, those toned muscles on his chest and stomach, formidable opponent indeed. She sighed and pulled her mind to the task at hand.

Ben held up his left hand, directing her to stop. They'd arrived. The lab was a large, two story rectangular building with one main entrance. There were no windows or openings that she could see but Ben led them to the back. "Loading dock entrance," he said quietly. "It'll still be guarded but I'm hoping less so."

"We could always knock."

"We could. But I suspect a man under house arrest isn't taking housecalls," Ben replied.

"You could cut a hole in the wall," at least she thought he could. She had never worked alongside a Jedi and wasn't sure what all they could actually do, only what she'd heard. Kyrie blushed wondering if he'd think her silly but he did not seem phased at all.

"It would just leave a very obvious trail but I will if I have to. Maybe there's a way to trick the security system." It had a retinal scanner, palm scan, and voice activation. The back wasn't any less guarded than the front, he circled back around.

Ben wasn't at all sure how he was going to get them into the building undetected. There was too much security to make a clean entrance.

"What'd his file say again?" Kyrie asked.

Before leaving for the lab they did research on the doctor. "He's human male, late 30's, works in the lab alone aside from a single assistant. While he's quite dedicated to his science he was also spoiled of the world of Kaon and likes expensive things based on his transactions. Expensive food, transportation..."

"And, expensive women?" Kyrie suggested. She started pulling off her chest plate, then moved to her legs. "Hand me your bag."

"What are you doing?" he handed the bag over warily. Within moments she had stripped down to nothing but her underclothes which was suddenly much too distracting. "You are not going into that lab like that."

"If it gets us in, I am. Hide back in the shadows. When I get in, you follow but out of sight if you can."

"I don't like this," he said. But, she ignored him, sauntering over to the front entrance and pushing the call button.

A young human male's voice came through. "What do you want?" Kyrie put her hands behind her back, putting her chest out and smiled demurely up at the camera.

"A _personal_ call for Dr. Lorrik?" she simpered.

"Dr. Lorrik is busy working, no callers today."

"But, my time has already been paid for. I'm sure he'd want to see me and take up that time... or I suppose you could..." The man grunted back but after a moment he did actually open the door.

Ben edged up as Kyrie strode into the lab with more confidence than anyone showing so much skin while entering the lair of a madman ever should. The assistant revealed was a very large man with little eyes and massive hands. He leered at Kyrie and reached one of these meaty paws toward her but Ben was too quick. He brought his hand down to the back of the man's unsuspecting neck and he dropped like a sack of vegetables. He handed her the bag with her armor and turned turned took in his surroundings.

There was one long hallway that branched off the central entryway. Ben led the way, lightsaber in hand but deactivated. Kyrie kept a hand on her holstered blaster at her hip, the rifle strapped across her shoulder still.

"What are we looking for?" she whispered. The lab was quiet around her and brightly lit. It reminded her a little too much of hospitals she'd spent time in as a kid.

"Life," Ben whispered back. "I sense something... off."

"We're in the lab of a mad scientist, what exactly were you expecting to feel?"

He smirked. "Fair enough." He stopped before one of the closed doors along the hallway. "Here." There was something disturbed in the Force here, something twisted. The Force which was normally such a free flowing energy felt caught here, like boulders in a stream.

The door before him was locked with biometric scanner and combination internal lock. No way they were getting in there. He tapped his saber against the door, the metal on metal clank almost deafening in the quiet of the lab. Behind the door came vicious snarls they had heard only too recently in the dark.

"Guess we know where the creatures are from then," Kyrie murmured. "No surprise there."

"Come on, we're not getting in there without setting off the alarm, well more alarms. I'm sure our fiasco at the front hasn't gone unnoticed." He pressed a hand to his head; he was overly warm again.

He led them on further into the lab. There was a large door at the end of the hallway, this one actually open. Ben approached warily. A man stood in the center of the room facing them wearing a long white lab coat. His dark eyes held an insane delight.

"Oh this is perfect," he said. A chill ran through Kyrie at the sound of his voice. She could see the fierce intelligence behind this man's eyes, but there was so much darkness there.

"Dr. Lorrik, I presume," Ben said.

"Yes, but look at you. I've been scanning your bio-signs since you entered my lab. You've been infected. An infected jedi, oh, I am so very interested in seeing how you turn out. Tell me, how long has it been? Have you held off the transformation? Utterly fascinating."

Kyrie raised her blaster. "Leave him alone."

Dr. Lorrik laughed. "Run, my dear. Run now."

She was about to question him when she looked over at Ben. His whole frame was shaking now and he dropped his saber to the ground. "Ben!"

He turned to her. "Run!" She dived for the saber he dropped as he ran off to a side room of the lab. Kyrie followed him but as she got to the doorway a great rakghoul jumped out and landed on top of her. She rolled away from it. Was it there before? It couldn't be Ben… could it?

"No!" she screamed and turned and fled, carrying Ben's lightsaber. Kyrie ran back out the way they came, Dr. Lorrik's laughter following her the whole way.


End file.
